Yes, we actually got a night out without kids on this trip! The baritone doing the recording with Brian sings with the Oper Leipzig and got us tickets to his performance in La Boheme. He also has two kids and found us a babysitter - awesome!
We arrived in Leipzig a few days ago on another very snowy day. Our apartment is only 600 meters from the train station so we thought we'd walk it rather than get a taxi. It was a long walk with two kids, luggage and tons of snow. Definitely won't do that in a blizzard again:) The apartment we rented is beautiful and right in the center of town. They knew we had kids and left us a toybox! They also left us things that Beckett doesn't need anymore but bibs, high chair, baby towels. So very thoughtful and the new toys for the kids has rocked their world.
The Christmas Market here in Leipzig is by far my favorite. The first night we were here I went out alone for a bit while Brian stayed with the boys as they devoured the new toys. It was one of the most festive, beautiful nights I can think of. It was snowing and so many people were out singing, laughing, celebrating. I went back to the apartment and got the boys to come back out to join the party. I'm really liking Leipzig and I think a big reason is all of the pedestrian only streets. It's a beautiful design and I'm wishing we had something like that in Seattle. Can't we just turn a few blocks of Pike and 4th Ave into a pedestrian zone full of restaurants and cafes with outdoor tables?
In my Leipzig research I discovered that they make a type of beer here that is made only in Leipzig. It's their version of a Geuze, called Gose. Even better, the brewery is in an old train station. Things like this make the entire family happy:) It was a great place and definitely worth going out in a blizzard to try and find.
I think today might have been one of Kohen's favorite days ever. I mentioned the baritone Brian is working with has kids so we spent the day with their family. We went to a model railroad exhibit, the boys rode a train at the market, rode a carousel, rode a ferris wheel and we also went to an indoor play space at a big store in town. The day before was super lame as they only got to eat chocolate like 4 times that day and only rode the kiddie train once. super lame:)
It's not all been easy though. The weather has been more intense than we expected. We were prepared for cold and some snow but Europe is in the middle of some of the worst weather they have had in years. I was walking home from the grocery store with the boys and Kohen was telling me that he was cold and that he wanted to "get warm now!" He also told me that the next time we go on vacation he wants to go to a warm place. I asked him which warm place he would like to go to and he answered "I only know one warm place. Fiji." Poor kid, has had so much winter travel in his life the only warm place he remembers is Fiji. I guess he doesn't remember how hot he was in China:)
The past few days I've been watching our kids and feeling so much respect for them. Throughout this adventure they have been fun, compassionate and open to whatever we are experiencing. They are dealing with delayed trains, snowstorms, grumpy people speaking to them in German, aggressive kids hitting them for no reason......our guys somehow just roll with it. Kohen is a role model for me with the way he can find compassion for someone or something in any of those situations. It's astounding. And Beckett has started to stand up for and defend Kohen. They have always been good buddies but it seems like something is shifting in their relationship and they seem so close, beyond playmates now. Brothers.
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